


Morgana and Gwen: First Meeting

by h_d



Series: Gwaine the Hero [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cutesy, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 04:33:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2296784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_d/pseuds/h_d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chapter One: Morgana, Gwen, and Arthur meet for the first time as children.</p><p>Chapter Two: Morgana and Gwen exchange courtship gifts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Merlin Femslash Week](http://merlinfemslashweek.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, prompt one: One Moment.

Gwen met Morgana and Arthur the summer after her third year of primary school.

"I understand, Mrs. Prentiss. Yes, of course. Next week will be fine. Feel better soon," Gwen's father, Tom, said into the phone. He hung up with a sigh.

He sat down on the sofa next to Gwen.

"Mrs. Prentiss isn't feeling well this week, Gwen. How would you like to come along with daddy today?" he said.

She looked back at him. She didn't really like the babysitter. Mrs. Prentiss watched television all day while Gwen read books, which she did enjoy, but sometimes she got a little bored. She nodded.

"Can I help you fix things?" she asked her dad.

"No, love. I'll be looking at their furnace today, and that's far too dangerous for you," he said. "Someday, though." He patted her cheek.

"Okay," she said. She picked up her small purple backpack and made sure she had a few books. She didn't like to be caught anywhere without something to read, and she anticipated another long, lonely day.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Gwen had heard of the Pendragon mansion, but she'd never seen it. It sat very far back from the main road in the village, surrounded by a high wrought-iron fence and tall trees. Her father rolled down his window to speak into an intercom, and the gates opened automatically.

When the giant mansion came into view, Gwen gasped.

"Daddy, is it a castle?" she asked, bouncing in her seat. The house was made of stone, with turrets and tiny pennants. She imagined a princess in a conical hat waving out of one of the upstairs windows.

He laughed. "No, just a very big house," he said.

She wasn't convinced.

Gwen and her father got out of the car and he knocked on the door, which was the biggest door Gwen had ever seen. A pale man with white hair and a white beard opened it. He was wearing a black suit and white gloves.

"How may I help you?" the man said.

"I'm here to fix the furnace. My daughter's babysitter canceled, so she's with me today, but she'll stay out of the way, I assure you," Gwen's father said.

"Of course," the man said. "I'll show you to the furnace. Your daughter looks to be the same age as Lord Pendragon's children. Perhaps she can join them upstairs."

Gwen's father bent towards her. "Is that alright with you, Gwen?"

"Yes, please, Daddy," she said.

She bounced on the balls of her feet. She never got to play with other kids, outside of school. And what sort of princes and princesses might live in this palace? She couldn't wait to see.

The man in the suit directed her father to wait in a chair and led her up a wide staircase. At the landing, Gwen looked up, and nearly fell over. The ceiling was very far away. It made her dizzy.

"Come along, now," the man said.

Eventually, they came upon another enormous door, and he knocked briefly, then opened it. Gwen peered inside.

A very pale girl with long dark hair was sitting on the window seat, reading. She was wearing a short green dress, and the colour suited her perfectly. She was very beautiful, even though she wasn't wearing a conical hat.

In a far corner, a blond boy was busy with something, but Gwen couldn't make out exactly what he was doing.

"Mistress Morgana, Master Arthur, you have a guest today. Do try to behave," the man said. He motioned Gwen inside the room and closed the door behind himself as he left.

Gwen was too excited at the prospect of meeting other children to remember to be nervous.

"Hello, I'm Gwen," she said. "Well, Guinevere is my proper name, but most people call me Gwen. You must be Lord Pendragon's children."

The girl, Morgana, looked up, placing her book beside herself. She smiled, and her eyes sparkled. Gwen couldn't tell whether Morgana was being friendly or was about to mock her. After all, Gwen was wearing her everyday clothes of jeans and a t-shirt, while Morgana looked like she was dressed for a posh party.

"What a nice surprise," Morgana said. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"Me too!" said Gwen. She was still buzzing with excitement.

The blond boy, Arthur, scrambled to his feet. Gwen could see he had been putting a simple jigsaw puzzle together. He looked a bit younger than either Gwen or Morgana.

"Guinevere, come help me," he said. "I almost have the border finished." He bent down to show her the box, which had a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

Gwen nodded eagerly and moved towards Arthur.

Morgana huffed. "Can't you see she's too old for that? Come along, Gwen. Would you like to play dress-up with me? I got a makeup kit for my birthday. We can practise on each other, won't that be fun?"

"Er," Gwen said. Both ideas appealed to her, and she didn't want to offend anyone.

Arthur rolled his eyes and sat back down to continue working on his puzzle.

Morgana took Gwen's hand and led her to a strange piece of furniture on the far wall. It had a chair in front of it, a mirror and a few dresser drawers, as well as different sets of makeup on top.

"This is my vanity table," Morgana said. "Do you have one at home?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Well, no matter. You'll just have to come over more often, then," she said, smiling.

Morgana pulled an extra chair over for Gwen to sit in. Gwen smoothed off her bottom before sitting; she didn't remember getting muddy today, but the chair was completely pristine and looked very expensive.

Morgana smiled at her as they both sat down.

"Oh, you're very pretty, Gwen," she said. "I think I'll just add a touch of lip colour."

Gwen found that she was nervous, after all.  She nodded, mutely, feeling very much out of her element. Her mother had died when she was three, and she had no other relatives who owned makeup kits.

"Now, pucker your lips, like you're going to give me a kiss," Morgana said. Gwen blushed. Her daddy was the only person she had ever kissed. Well, she had once kissed Mrs. Prentiss' cat, but that hadn't worked out very well.

"Perfect!" Morgana exclaimed.

Gwen watched as Morgana produced a palette with all sorts of different shades of red, brown, and pink, and then took a brush from a fluted glass on the vanity. It wasn't a chipped old mug, like Gwen used at home for her toothbrush. Gwen realised it had probably been purchased just to hold these brushes.

"Don't stop puckering up until I say," Morgana said.

Morgana coated a thin brush in one of the pink colours. At the first touch of the brush to Gwen's lips, she tingled. It felt foreign, but not unpleasant. Morgana made encouraging noises, but otherwise worked in silence.

"Now, gently press your lips together, like this," Morgana said, demonstrating. "That will make the colour even on both lips." She handed Gwen a tissue. "Give this a kiss, but not too roughly, or you'll lose all the colour."

Gwen complied, and she stared at the perfect imprint of her lips on the tissue.

"Can I stop puckering now?" Gwen asked.

Morgana laughed. "Of course. It's very nice! Here, take a look in the mirror."

Gwen half-turned and studied herself in the ornate mirror that was built into the vanity. She looked much the same, just with brighter lips. Still, she had definitely enjoyed the process of Morgana applying the lipstick.

Gwen beamed.

"Thank you, Morgana. I love it. Maybe I can help you now," she said.

Morgana chuckled. "I _am_ sorry, but you seem a bit inexperienced. Perhaps instead I could show you how I do it."

Gwen nodded eagerly.

She watched as Morgana chose a clean brush for her own lip colour, a darker red this time, as well as a light green eyeshadow. After she looked in the mirror and deemed her makeup acceptable, she picked up a golden hairbrush and ran it through her already smooth hair. Gwen was mesmerised.

Morgana touched the ends of Gwen's hair where it lay just above her shoulders. "Your hair is lovely. May I brush it for you?"

Gwen laughed. "No, I use a different kind of hairbrush. But maybe I'll bring it next time."

Morgana smiled at her, and it warmed Gwen. Despite her admiration of Morgana, though, she hadn't forgotten the other person in the room.

"I—perhaps I should see how Arthur's getting on with his puzzle," Gwen said.

Morgana rolled her eyes, but she didn't really look annoyed. "Yes, perhaps," she said. She turned back to her mirror.

Gwen made her way over to the corner of the room and sat down next to Arthur. The border of the puzzle was nearly finished, and Arthur was currently trying to find the different shades of white for Donald's outfit. She did her best to assist.

Arthur didn't talk too much about anything but the puzzle, but Gwen learned that he and Morgana attended the poshest school in the village, which was why she hadn't met them until today. He was starting his second year in a few weeks.

Once that puzzle was complete, Arthur grabbed another from a high stack nearby. This one showed Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was a bit more difficult than the first, as several of the dwarves wore the same colour shirts.

After a time, Morgana came over to them. She ignored Arthur, sitting behind Gwen and gently stroking her hair. It felt nice.

Gwen's father found them like that several hours later. "Time to go, Gwen," he said.

"But Dad, we're having so much fun!" she said. "Can I come back another time?"

Her dad drew his eyebrows together in confusion but didn't respond.

"Of course you can, Gwen," Morgana said. "We would love that."

"Yes, please," said Arthur.

Gwen smiled at them both and got up and left the room. On her walk back out of the house, the wide staircase and high ceilings didn't seem nearly as imposing as they had on the way in. She looked forward to returning soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though it was raining outside, Gwen was having a very nice Saturday afternoon with her new colouring book. She almost had the sorceress completely done.

Daddy came over to the table and peered at her work.

"Good job, Gwen," he said.

She looked up and smiled at him. "It's for Morgana," she replied. "Do you like it?" The sorceress' clothing had looked ragged in black-and-white. Gwen had drawn on ruffles and bows so that it looked like Morgana's favourite blue-and-purple dress.

"Are you making one for all your classmates, then?"

"She's not in my class," she said. "She lives in the manor."

Daddy furrowed his brows at her. "Oh. You met her last weekend, right?"

"Yes. She and her brother said they're going to invite me round to play again, though."

Daddy sighed, shaking his head. Finally, he said, "It's lovely. Maybe one of the girls at school would like it."

"What? No, it's only for Morgana," she answered, surprised.

"Why's that?"

"Because she was very nice to me." She returned to the sorceress.

He kissed her forehead, then straightened up. "I'm going to make dinner."

She got her gold metallic crayon out from its special package. Maybe Morgana was a sorceress and a princess too. She drew a crown atop the dark tresses. Gwen had read that word in a book last week, "tresses," and she liked it.

Gwen was glad that her father hadn't disagreed with her. When she'd said last weekend that Morgana was the sweetest girl ever, Arthur had a very different reaction.

"She is not. You just don't know her very well yet," he said.

Gwen glanced at Morgana; Gwen was sure that Arthur was wrong about her. But Gwen's new friend had her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring very meanly at her little brother.

"Morgana!" Gwen said, shocked. This certainly wasn't the same girl who had been so patient with Gwen at the vanity table.

When she realised she'd been caught, Morgana's face didn't change right away. She didn't pretend. Gwen was glad. There were too many kids at school who were frighteningly good at pretending to like Gwen, but as soon as the teacher disappeared, they started to laugh at her—for reading too many books, for having scuffed shoes, or whatever else they'd thought up. Really, it was all only because Gwen was still the new girl, Daddy said, but it hurt anyway.

"Arthur's right, Gwen," Morgana said. "I'm not really that sweet. But I do hope you'll still like me."

"I do," Gwen said. "I like both of you, if that's okay."

Morgana laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's fine. Now come on, let me show you my favourite dress. It would look pretty on you too, I think."

The dress had been far too long on her, Gwen remembered, as she finished the crown, carefully tore the page out, and started another. This one showed a knight atop a horse. It reminded her of Daddy; maybe he would like it as a gift.

The doorbell rang, startling her. She scrambled out of her seat. Daddy was already striding to the entryway. After he'd looked through the peephole, he allowed Gwen to open the door.

There stood the Pendragon family: Arthur, Morgana, and a tall man who Gwen thought was their father. Morgana was wearing the blue-and-purple dress and stood primly with her hands behind her back, but her tresses were wet. One long curl was plastered across her forehead.

"Hi!" Gwen cried, launching herself at Morgana for a hug. Morgana laughed and hugged back, and Gwen felt something wet brush her own back.

"Please come in, Mr. Pendragon," Daddy said.

The Pendragons entered and stood just inside the doorway, the children looking up at their father.

"Yes, well," he said. "I hope we're not imposing, but the children insisted on visiting your daughter today. We can't stay, as we have plans in the village. Go on, give her your courtship gift, Morgana."

Courtship gift? Gwen's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She had learned the word "courtship" from the same book as "tresses," but in the book, a knight courted a noble lady. They were much younger than those characters, and anyway, Morgana wasn't a knight, and Gwen wasn't a noble lady.

She didn't understand, but before she could ask someone to explain, she noticed that Morgana was holding out a bouquet of wilted violets and daisies. "I picked these in the garden for you," Morgana said.

"Thank you," Gwen said, taking the flowers. They were wet and cold in her hand. "Purple is my favourite colour."

"I know," Morgana replied.

"I have something for you, too." Gwen ran to grab the colouring book page from the table.

Morgana's face lit up when she saw it. "It's me!" she said. "Look, Arthur."

Arthur didn't look nearly as happy as Morgana did.

"I'll do one for you next, Arthur, but I wasn't expecting to see either of you today. I'm sorry," Gwen said.

She was relieved when Arthur smiled back at her gratefully.

"Hmm," said Mr. Pendragon, looking back and forth between all of them before speaking to Daddy. "It seems our children are determined to be friends. I suspect we should exchange our personal mobile numbers to prevent future intrusions of this sort."

As the adults stood and talked, Gwen pulled Morgana and Arthur to the corner of the room.

"Did you mean it as a courtship gift, Morgana?" Gwen asked.

Morgana nodded. "Yes. Is it alright?"

Gwen grinned back at her. "I accept," she said.

Morgana squeezed her hand.

Gwen squeezed back, then giggled. "You forgot to dry your hair," she said. She reached up to straighten the long strand that was across her forehead, and Morgana laughed.

"Oh, I knew I was forgetting something. Dad made us hurry. But it's just some business dinner of his. Who cares, right, Arthur?"

Arthur's hair was dry, and he was wearing fancy clothes too. But he laughed. "Yeah. I found a frog in the garden. Want to see?" He carefully inserted a hand in his jacket pocket.

Of course Gwen did. They all huddled around the tiny frog. Gwen stroked a finger on the soft white flesh under its head, hoping it didn't make any noise and get Arthur in trouble. It was soft, not slimy, like she'd expected.

Mr. Pendragon said it was time to go, and Arthur quickly hid the frog away.

"See you soon," Morgana called over her shoulder as they left.

Gwen couldn't wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks ago, the prompt for Camelot Drabble was "courtship," and I wrote this before I realized that my submission also needed to be in the form of a letter. Anyway, I'm really attached to this 'verse, so this may not be the last time I visit it. Thanks for reading!


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